NASCAR DUELS: Logano, Almirola win but Smith, Daly also winners; Daytona 500 starting lineup

DAYTONA — Two races, four winners — that was Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel races in a 2.5-mile, tri-oval-shaped nutshell.

Joey Logano and Aric Almirola took checkered flags, Zane Smith and Conor Daly locked in spots in Sunday’s Daytona 500 field and the rest of the starting lineup was set at the end of a pair of 150-mile sprints.

Logano will start third behind Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson in Sunday's Great American Race after the two Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets locked into the front row via qualifying speed on Wednesday. Almirola will start fourth. The first Duel race set the inside lane for the Daytona 500 with the second race determining the order in the outside lane.

'HE'S A COMPETITOR': Kyle Busch addition to RCR pushes Austin Dillon

STAYING IN (TRACK)HOUSE: NASCAR's Ross Chastain signs extension, preaches watermelon advocacy at Daytona

For Logano, he picked up right where he left off last year — in Victory Lane. The reigning series champion and 2015 Daytona 500 winner seized control after a round of pit stops about midway through and held off a last-lap charge from Christopher Bell on the outside, using a little help from teammate Ryan Blaney to hang on to the top spot.

Blaney led throughout the first half of the race until the lead pack hit pit lane with Logano coming out first. Logano, Kevin Harvick and Blaney ran 1-2-3 until the final lap. That's when Bell made his move, diving under Harvick and using a run to poke ahead of the field in the final corner. But Logano held the bottom and after Bell moved up, Blaney stayed with his Team Penske teammate and it was enough to get Logano across the line first.

It was Logano’s third Duel win and the second time he’s done so the year after winning the title, following up a 2018 championship with a Duel victory the following February.

“Obviously it was a pretty good race for the Fords, the execution went really well, the cars are fast, which is nice,” Logano said. “(Bell) got to my right rear there and I kind of just let it happen because I knew (Blaney) was right behind him and that was kind of the difference maker. Knowing your teammate is right there to save you after the 20 pulled out, it worked out really well.”

Zane Smith, meanwhile, followed Front Row Motor Sports teammate Michael McDowell and came home eighth, which was more than enough to better Chandler Smith’s 18^th-place finish. Zane Smith’s place in the Daytona 500 ensures that last year’s Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series (Ty Gibbs) and Cup Series (Logano) champions will all start in the Great American Race, the first time that’s ever happened..

“It’s been crazy, all the media and hype behind it,” he said. “Those Duels are a little nerve-wracking, kind of just followed my teammate through there. He was a big, big help. All the Fords really. I felt like we worked together really well.”

Our goal was to make it into the race and you never know what’s going to happen in the Daytona 500.”

Blaney, Chris Buescher and McDowell rounded out the top five in the first race. Bowman got out of harm's way early in the race and finished 17th.

While the first race was fairly calm throughout, the second race was anything but.

That included a frantic finish. Todd Gilliland led the pack to the white flag but with the cars double file, got loose getting into Turn 1 after a bump draft from Kyle Larson. Gilliland was turned down onto the apron but somehow held onto the car, slowly merging back onto the track but scattering the inside lane. That put Almirola and the outside lane ahead and with only a half lap left, nobody could mount an organized charge behind him. Reigning Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric finished second followed by Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie.

Almirola said despite the win, the car was far from perfect but that was by design. He and his crew chose to try and build a fast racecar for qualifying instead of focusing on handling for Thursday’s races, a decision that presented its own challenges, especially in traffic.

“That led me to having my hands full tonight,” Almirola admitted. “It didn’t handle the greatest, definitely was sketchy getting pushed, found myself vulnerable at times depending on who was pushing me and how they were pushing me. I felt like we had such a fast racecar, if I got the right pushes at the right time and I found myself in the right position that we could win that Duel and we could go to work tonight and tomorrow and make it drive a little bit better for the Daytona 500.”

Daniel Suarez turned Kyle Busch from the lead with 19 laps to go, taking out four cars including Austin Hill, who was competing against Daly for the final starting spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500. Also collected was Riley Herbst and Travis Pastrana, who locked himself into the field via qualifying time on Wednesday night.

It was an unlikely result for Daly, driving the No. 50 car for the Money Team Racing, co-owned by boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. Daly had suspension problems before the green flag ever waved Thursday and finished as the only car a lap down. That after being unable to turn in a qualifying lap on Wednesday due to mechanical issues.

“I can’t even believe we made it,” Daly, an IndyCar Series veteran, said. “I didn’t even have my helmet on when they said, ‘Drivers start your engines’. It was insane what was going on here. We had a radio that looked like it had been eaten by a rodent overnight just a few hours ago. We’ve been through everything just to get out on track and we made it. I guess that’s how stories are written.”

Daytona 500 starting lineup

• 1. Alex Bowman, Chevrolet

• 2. Kyle Larson, Chevrolet

• 3. Joey Logano, Ford

• 4. Aric Almirola, Ford

• 5. Christopher Bell, Toyota

• 6. Austin Cindric, Ford

• 7. Ryan Blaney, Ford

• 8. Chase Elliott, Chevrolet

• 9. Chris Buescher, Ford

• 10. Brad Keselowski, Ford

• 11. Michael McDowell, Ford

• 12. Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet

• 13. Kevin Harvick, Ford

• 14. Todd Gilliland, Ford

• 15. Bubba Wallace, Toyota

• 16. Martin Truex Jr., Toyota

• 17. Zane Smith, Ford

• 18. Denny Hamlin, Toyota

• 19. Harrison Burton, Ford

• 20. Ryan Preece, Ford

• 21. William Byron, Chevrolet

• 22. Noah Gragson, Chevrolet

• 23. Ross Chastain, Chevrolet

• 24. Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet

• 25. Erik Jones, Chevrolet

• 26. Tyler Reddick, Toyota

• 27. Austin Dillon, Chevrolet

• 28. Justin Haley, Chevrolet

• 29. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet

• 30. Chase Briscoe, Ford

• 31. AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet

• 32. BJ McLeod, Chevrolet

• 33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet

• 34. Conor Daly, Chevrolet

• 35. Ty Gibbs, Toyota

• 36. Kyle Busch, Chevrolet

• 37. Cody Ware, Ford

• 38. Riley Herbst

• 39. Ty Dillon, Chevrolet

• 40. Travis Pastrana, Toyota

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: DAYTONA DUELS: Logano, Almirola win but Smith, Daly do too; 500 lineup set